Starbucks sued for $114 million over canceled free-drink coupon

Attorney Peter Sullivan sued on behalf of Kelly Coakley, a 23-year-old Starbucks regular who felt "betrayed" when her coupon wasn't honored. The lawyer accuses the company of fraud and says he'll request class-action status to include the "thousands who were misled" by the free-drink offer, which Starbucks intended to go to a limited number of employees and their friends. (Associated Press)

Comments

sorry can't spell....a couple of words mispelled above.

[former coffee drinker]

Some people had their coupons accepted. On what basis did they do this, race? looks? reading ability? or was it sexual gender?

What reason is there to buy from a company that gives some people free coffee and discriminates against others?

"sexual gender"? LOL

[corianderstem]

"They probably want to send a message to bi business that they shouldn't be allowed to get away with something like this"

Say what? They made a mistake. An embarrassing mistake that led to a lot of confusion, disappointment and annoyance, but it's not like Starbucks is a doctor who accidentally amputated someone's leg.

This site sees a lot of comments sneering about a "sense of entitlement," but this situation screams "sense of entitlement" to me. I still say it's ridiculous.

[Deusx]

I think I will be suing my ex-gf of ten years ago, I have a "good for one free backrub" coupon signed by her with no expiration date. I called her last night (we are still friends) and asked if she planned on honoring her coupon. Since she refused, I feel shocked and betrayed as this is a perfectly legitimate coupon that hasn't been altered in any way.
I feel misled as she got a very nice diamond bracelet shortly before she gave me the coupons. I shall have to call this attorney forthwith. Hmm..I wonder if she has defrauded any other boyfriends in this manner, we could apply for class action status!

[Jason]

"Meanwhile, the news keeps talking about "altered" but I have yet to see any proof that any coupon was actually "altered" or changed in any way -- its totally just rumor spreading bullshit by Starbucks which thinks it can do whatever it pleases beacuse its on every corner.... luckily, I dont even like Starbucks cofee but maybe they and haliburton should merge and just get it over with"

*coughassholecough*

The coupon originally said "Free Iced Grande Coffee" and someone changed it to "Free Iced Grande Beverage" Ask any store to see a copy of the original and the fake version, every store I know of has a copy of both. You should really get your facts straight before you accuse Starbucks of faking something to get out of having to accept the coupon, because there's a big F-ing difference between a iced coffee and an iced grande drink.

Secondly, this whole discussion is moot because the girl tried to redeem a fraudulent coupon if it said "Free Iced Grande Beverage". Starbucks doesnt have to honor fraudulent coupons. Wow, novel concept, I know. That's like me getting a blank sheet of paper and writing "Free Beer at any Krogers" on it with a crayon and then suing Krogers when they wont accept it. Its ridiculous. Just another example of how starbucks has the most ridiculous impatient moronic customers ever.

[formerly "anon"]

*cough *cough...another beautiful attempt at "sarcasm" by Deusx...oh god, how shall I contain my my laughter when your witty sense of humor is everywhere on the site...oh dear...enlighten us, oh Jimmy Fallon

[Deusx]

Actually Formerly, that would be satire. It would be sarcasm if it were more ironic and less lampooning the original idea. Satire often takes the form of drawing out an idea to a logical, but absurd conclusion. If we are going to make a parallel to a comedian, it would be more in the form of one of the SNL skits thought up by Jane Curtain, Dan Akroyd, etc. Jimmy Fallon, although sarcastic at times, seems to base most of his jokes on mugging at the camera with a "aren't I a naughty boy?" face.

Although, as someone has pointed out to me in a private email, I should and will be flattered. You spend nearly 70% of your time here "stalking" my posts. It is gratifying that I have made such an impact on your life, I hope you take the new found purpose and energy and direct it more creatively though. Perhaps you can drop a finger in a latte and hold a press conference that warns the world that "starbucks lattes are people!".

Have a nice night.

[B SCHIMMEL]

PRESS RELEASE:

Starbucks Sued Over Free Coffee

NEW YORK--Sept. 8, 2006--Starbucks must take responsibility for its actions in distributing a mass email promising consumers a complimentary iced coffee drink, a lawsuit filed in New York’s Supreme Court alleges.

On August 23, 2006, Starbucks distributed a coupon over the internet offering the bearer a free “grande iced beverage” at Starbucks retail stores between the hours of 12 noon and 9 PM; the offer was to be valid through September 30, 2006. Starbucks, however, refused to honor the offer after declaring that distribution of the coupon had become too widespread.

The class action lawsuit was filed today in New York County Supreme Court under index number 112545/06. It seeks a minimum of $114 Million under New York’s General Business Law, which prohibits deceptive advertising, on behalf of those consumers who were snubbed when they went to redeem the virtual coupon or who were misled by the advertisement. It further seeks a Court Order enjoining the multi-billion dollar company from conducting future misleading advertising campaigns.

"Starbucks should account to the thousands of consumers who relied upon the advertisement, went out of their way to stop by a Starbucks and ended up being charged $3 for coffee," stated Peter Sullivan of Sullivan Gardner PC, the attorneys who commenced the action. “The excuse proffered by Starbucks, that they did not believe that an offer released over the internet would be so widely distributed, is ridiculous.” “Clearly, Starbucks chose to initiate a viral marketing campaign to counteract their slumping sales.”

The Complaint alleges that Starbucks “knowingly disseminated the Advertisement with careless disregard for the valuable time that would be wasted by plaintiffs who attempted to avail themselves of the offer in the Advertisement and fraudulently induced consumers to take actions in reliance upon the Advertisement.”

Contact:
Sullivan Gardner PC, New York, NY
Peter Sullivan, Esq. +1-212-687-5900
ps@sullivangardner.net

# # #

[deusx]

One would think if one is going to put out a press release, one would fact check it. The coupon was for an iced coffee, not a grande iced beverage of their choice.
This attorney thinks that if he generates enough negative publicity, even if through dishonest means, Starbucks will pay him off to drop the case. This is quickly devolving into legalized blackmail.

On the other hand, it's getting to the point where I hope the people who approved this in the first place are put into stocks, pelted with tomatoes and publicly derided. I can't imagine how anyone could possibly of woken up, come up with this and thought to themselves "Wow, what a brilliant idea!"

[Lauren]

Deusx...

+1 for Soylent Green reference

Jason...

Please write that on a piece of paper with a crayon and take it to a Krogers. And wear a tin foil hat. Please. Tape it too? It just sounds way too funny to pass up.

And, as usual, my own two cents: I love law. I love tort law, I love contract law, I love criminal law. But I hate the new litigious nature of our society where people feel that they can sue anyone for anything. This case will never win, but I think that it's a shame it ever came up.

[Barista Ben]

All together now: SHYSTER!!!

[tomboy]

why is everyone defending starbucks for something they put in motion? lawyers suck... but starbucks should keep its promises. the coupon was legit, they should have known it would be emailed everywhere. Instead, they got the free publicity and broke their promise -- and it obviously helped them, because sales which sucked in july were up beig time in august; for them its just about getting the name out and bad press is as good as good press -- it puts the starbucks name out there and people say hmm im in the mood for coffee. No matter the bad press, its not like people are gonna boycott starbucks; no one cares enough. so pretty much starbucks can pull a stunt like this, get free press, then decide its cheaper to just break its promises. bad deal all around.

[deusx]

Tomboy im not sure how we can make this simpler to understand so I'm going to just type slower :) T-h-e o-r-g-i-n-a-l c-o-u-p-o-n w-a-s a-l-t-e-r-e-d. Did that sink in?

Starbucks was honoring the coupons initially even outside the area they were supposed to be honored. Then it was altered to give a free grande ice drink of any kind and the one I've seen was altered to be good for a year. THEN Starbucks began shutting down the coupon acceptance.

[streets]

Personally i think that starbucks is in control of the whole thing. Your all a bunch of tools. This is exactly what they want you to do.

[mark remkin]

Starbucks knew something like this would happen why else would they do it via the internet. It doesn't matter how it turns out as long as "Starbucks" is on the tip of everyone's tongue, they win.

[deusx]

Mark,

Do you really think Starbucks is so desperate for name recognition that they would put out an internet coupon, have some employees leak it outside the market it was intended for, have some more employees alter the coupon, etc. all so there would be a small public outcry and a blurb in the newspapers?

Is starbucks such an unknown and little talked about corporate entity that it must rely on incredibly arcane and circuitous means to accomplish something they do just fine with the minimal print advertising, widespread billboard advertising and nearly omni-present product commercials found on tv and radio?

They didn't "do it" on the internet. The coupon was distributed to select partners in the company email with the generous instruction to share with family and friends. Someone, more than likely on of the "family and friends" chose to forward this on to a friend of thiers, and then they forwarded on to a friend of theirs, ad infitum. Hindsight says "duh, you didn't think this would happen?" but that hindsight uses the cynical view of human nature. The original person who started the promotion was obviously naive enough to believe that the partners could be trusted to follow the company directions, which was a plainly stupid assumption to make.

[David]

This is absolutely ridiculous. Starbucks doesn't owe you anything. A coupon is not a contract. If you went into a Starbucks and they told you the coupon wasn't good and you didn't want to pay $3, DON'T BUY THE COFFEE.

It's a little ridiculous to sue someone when you can't actually demonstrate that you were harmed. This case will be thrown out in short order.

[TeamCoakley]

Are you 15? Is this your first job? Does Starbucks pay you to defend them? IT'S A PLACE WHERE YOU BUY COFFEE! Starbucks clearly made a mistake, a mistake they have enough money to fix.

[Grounds for Dismissal]

In regards to the above suggestion from Mike Williams to dunk the plaintiff “into boiling hot coffee until her skin falls off”. I have to disagree with him—I just think that’s plain wrong!

Everyone has a right to their day in court if they feel mistreated. A large corporation like Starbucks cannot simply dunk litigants into scalding hot coffee—without also offering to dip them afterwards into a choice of half-n-half or soymilk. The condiments bar is for everyone.

Furthermore, proper espresso shots should be pulled at 195-200 degrees! Already below the 212 boiling point; so I don’t see how Mr. William’s boiling-coffee suggestion is even practical.

[deusx]

"*cough *cough...another beautiful attempt at "sarcasm" by Grounds...oh god, how shall I contain my my laughter when your witty sense of humor is everywhere on the site...oh dear...enlighten us, oh Jimmy Fallon"

Grounds what you said was hilarious, I've decided to create the "Formerly anonymous" award for humorous posts, directly stealing his comments for my use. You sir are the first recipient, congradulations.

[Mila]

People like free things. People like to share free things with their loved ones. And they did. This is what Starbucks wanted in the first place... isn't it? Is it really possible that the coffee giant was SURPRISED by the swarming crowds demanding free iced drinks?

This is the power of email - spreading information, and coupons, at the click of a button.

Starbucks should have used an email anti-theft program to prevent their email from being forwarded out of control... It would have cost them less than $114 million, I bet.

[Mark Poliner]

Just a lawyer and a Plaintiff looking to force a settlement for a nice payday. Unfortunatley, depending on the right judge, it may actually go foward and not be dismissed as frivolous

[Grounds for Dismissal]

Deusx -- I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. 1st time poster here--just responding to the boiling coffee comment my (real life) friend made up top. Really for his amusement, not yours.

In regards to the article: lawsuits without merit rarely pay out, especially upon appeal. Despite popular perception, the legal system actually kinda works.

[Tim Riker]

The lawsuit will hurt the Starbucks customers more than the stupid bogus coupon. I don't want to have to pay extra for each drink because this idiot sued Starbucks for $114 million and Starbucks of course might just pass this cost on to the customers.

If I was the judge I would just say, "I've heard enough, court dismissed."

[deusx]

I didn't mistake you for someone else, I credited your quote. I thought it was hilarious. If you haven't noticed in the thread, there is a post called "formerly anoynymous" whose life mission seems to be to heckle people, me primarily. He had a smarmy comment when I attempted to use humor to make a point, so I adopted it as a honorific for all those who strike my funny bone.

[Grounds for Dismissal]

Apologies Deusx. I misread your post as sarcasm...with "hilarious" meaning "extremely not hilarious"

[Sucker in Iowa]

I was emailed the coupon. That day I printed it out, drove to Starbucks, paid to park my car, and planned to redeem the coupon. I saw no signs, but was told by the counter person that the coupon was no longer being accepted. She pointed to a tiny sign sitting well below my eye level. I was angry and embarrassed. The coupon was supposed to be valid for another 30 days!

After I left, I became more angry. This struck as false advertising in a big way. They had to know this would be passed around. No company is that stupid. Right?

I will not ever go to Starbucks again. There are plenty of other fine coffeehouses to shop. And I would join the lawsuit.

[deusx]

Sucker

1. Welcome to the internet, anyone that trusts an internet coupon they get in a private email is an idiot.

2. Perhaps you missed the discussion that the coupon you recieved was fake? If I draw a coupon good that states I get half your life savings, will you honor it? If you don't, is it ok if I blame you and then sue?

3. Taking in to account 1. and 2. I think the baristas in Iowa are better out without your business. I hope the other coffee houses enjoy your naive, thoughtless sense of entitlement.

[annon]

deusx....youre pathetic, you have way too much time on your hands....you need to get a life outside of starbucks

[Mark]

Quote: "If this girl feels betrayed by this, I'd hate to see her reaction if her significant other cheats on her. How much do you think she'd sue for then? A trillion bajillion eleventy-million dollars!!!"

I love Matthew's comment here. It pretty much fits. Incidentally, it follows along with a story I'm doing in my webcomic, where one of the characters has been flirting with a barista just so he can get free coffee. In other words, he's a "Coffee Gigilo" (sans coupons, fake or otherwise).

Anyway, I think this lawsuit is really a sad comment on our society. The court system is the new lottery system for far too many people. Any big company I've worked for has always been the target for this kind of lawsuit by people hoping to get rich for nothing, or for being stupid and not wanting to take personal responsibility for it.

[deusx]

I agree, I do have way too much time on my hands, but that would be the fault of my employers, who are definitely not Starbucks. I haven't worked for Starbucks since around 2003.

[CAL]

Starbucks should have honored the coupon to be in compliance with their very own “just say yes” policy. Senior management must have approved the coupon format along with the e-mail distribution lists even as they inherently propagated beyond “the original intent.” This sounds like “pass the buck” to me- no pun intended. This “buck” was then passed down to their own store partners with regard to the disclaimer process and then right onto customer in the form of a refusal of promised goods. Since there was an expiration date present on the coupon, Starbucks should have just bit the bullet. Not only was their reputation damaged and the brand cheapened, but they also managed to leave themselves wide open to more bad press and potential lawsuits.

If I held stock in this company, I would be very concerned with the apparent lack of scope and foresight on the part of the senior leadership. A company partner sent an e-mail to a select group of partners in a particular region to be sent to everyone in their own address book. I am not an executive, but this is a huge red flag and it’s on fire! Was it really a surprise that the coupons were “reproduced and circulated without authorization?” If so, the company has a lot more to worry about than recalled drink coupons. What about a discrimination lawsuit? What if a Starbucks partner in another region felt “betrayed” because s/he did not receive a coupon to distribute to all of his/her own friends and family? I don’t want to inspire a licentious lawsuit; it is just food for thought.

[whatawasteoftime]

When companies send out promotional coupons, contests, etc. most read something to the effect of "this promotion may be cancelled at any time" just to insure that something like this doesn't happen. Did anyone REALLY see the original coupon and read the fine print?

[Deusx]

I was going to mention once again that the coupon was forged, but whats the point?

[corianderstem]

Quote of a quote: "If this girl feels betrayed by this, I'd hate to see her reaction if her significant other cheats on her. How much do you think she'd sue for then? A trillion bajillion eleventy-million dollars!!!"

Then quote: "I love Matthew's comment here. It pretty much fits."

Hey, that was MY quote!

: insert pout and then a winky thing :

[John Burgess]

"Honest mistakes," as an unintentional, overly broad distribution of coupons is an excusable offense and generally not legallya ctionable.

It's like the typo in the Sunday paper that offers coats for $14.99 instead of $149.99. You print a retraction (or post a sign at the point of sale) and you're covered.

Jackass attorney, jackass client.

Were they to win the case, the attorney would get 30% (or more) of the settlement/court order and the client, along with the rest of the class, would get $4 coupons. That's they way class actions work, no matter the cause, no matter the damage.

[Barista]

Actually, we were not informed to honor the coupons that were not able to see the signs. We were told to explain to the customer the situation and apologize for them. I can see if the customer was extreme distraught about it that we might make a case to give it to them, with the permission of the supervisor. However, never was I told to just give the drink to the customer at failure to read the sign.

Glad to say it wasn't one of my lovely customers who I adore completely.

[baristia]

At my store, it was posted that if a customer brought in the coupon, it needed to be honored, but to also explain that we will no longer accept it afterwards. Also, in that fine print on the bottom of the fraudulent coupon, it still says redeemable at participating Starbucks only! Clearly, not all stores were participating, even in the original e-mail. Therefore, the coupon that Miss Coakley has, still has proof against her as to why the coupon was revoked.

[dandenver]

Deusx, I've seen THREE samples of this coupon and NONE of them was altered to expire in a year. Why should they be? The original expiration date hasn't even passed.

Read my lips: Starbucks screwed up. And they admitted it.
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/starbucks.asp

Why do you care to defend them?

[Deusx]

Dan,

The coupon scanned in at Snopes IS an altered coupon. If you notice, it says "Iced Grande Beverage", not Iced coffee. The original coupon promotion was for iced coffee, hence Caribou offering to honor the "coupons for iced coffee". You are right though, that particular fake coupon has not had the date altered, but I have seen ones that were.

[Former Barista]

Sucker in Iowa:

You really are a sucker if you paid for parking. Please tell me WHERE in Iowa you paid for parking? Or are you referring to the nickel you fed a meter in Iowa City? PLEASE get a life.

My head hurts after reading this, my brain is screaming. There are so many f---ing ignorant idiots on this board and in this world! In this day and age, since we're all experienced enough with computers and email, when a waitress, barista, clerk, or whomever, tells you that a coupon is no longer valid or fraudulent, DEAL WITH IT! Pay the measley three bucks or turn around and walk out. Chances are half the people who were forwarded the ALTERED coupons already knew they were fake but wanted to see if they could get away with it, and then have the audacity to get pissy about it! They've probably tried the same stunt with the fake Applebee's, Olive Garden, and Starbucks (from the spring) coupons! There have been hundreds of coupons circulated on the internet and in email that aren't real, and anyone with half a brain knows to take any email offers of any kind with a HUGE grain of salt!

Why the hell are Americans so cheap these days? God, they'll do anything for something free! Get a damn life people--and get a job! Make an honest living like the rest of us!

This lawsuit and others like it are a prime example why foreigners think we're all idiots!

And Dandenver, I've only read through this once, but re: your snopes.com link, no one has disputed that the plan went awry, and no one claimed that Starbuck's left it unacknowledged. Why should the coupons be altered to expire in a year? DUH-the more you print off, the more free coffee you get!

Idiots!

[Mark]

D'OH! My bad, corianderstem.

[Deusx]

In Dan's defense Former, he was responding to me saying some of the coupons had been altered to extend the "good for" date. Then he linked Snopes to prove me wrong, unfortunately there are about four (that I've seen so far) fake versions of the original that have been altered in different ways, so that really didn't support his arguement.

[Former]

Deusx-

Right, that's what I was trying to say--he has no support for his argument. If you alter the coupons to reflect an even longer period of redeeming time, that gives more people the opportunity to try to take advantage of the "Just say yes" policy and play dumb about the end of the promotion. Therefore, the coupon doesn't expire, and neither does their greediness! Although I doubt they'd be able to get away with it for too long...

I have "just said yes" to a fraudulent coupon or two (the one that was going around last spring), but made sure that the customer and those in line understood that it was not real. One customer (I think) was totally innocent and thought it was real, the other I'm pretty sure knew better, given her reaction when I first told her that it was a fake coupon but then she chilled when I told her I would honor it because I "trusted" that she didn't know any better.

We also had an issue a while back where a local cafe closed down leaving former customers upset because they had gift cards yet to be redeemed. Our DM offered, through the local paper, that anyone who mailed him the gift card would receive a free beverage certificate. Well you can imagine the earful we got when people who couldn't read directions came in and found out they couldn't use their gift cards at our store. Then there were those who thought we were going to reimburse them for the value of the card. A high school girl got lippy with me because she couldn't possibly understand that our computer system wouldn't read the card. We "just said yes" the first few times, explained the offer, took the card and gave them a freebie, but after a little while we had to put our foot down and tell them to follow the "rules." And of course, the inevitable blaming Starbucks for the cafe going out of business. Fun stuff. I don't think anyone got sued for that one, though.

I feel betrayed............. I went to Payless and saw some kickass shoes I had to have, but alas they didn't have my size.... those JERKS... how dare they not have my size, my life is ruined,my next stop is probably a mental hospital, oh woe is me

[D]

Posted by: recoveringattorney | Sep 10, 2006 6:41:50 AM

yes i agree with the above post... we do look like idiots. I am sick and tired of the customers that think that they are gods gift to the world and think they should get eveything for free. This is a business not a charity. What we need to get is a picture of the girl suing and put a circle around her face with a line through it and post it in ever establishment.

Life is nothing but a big disappointment....GET OVER IT!!!

I hope they put this law suit on live TV so the world can see her ass get laughed out of the room. Perhaps they need Judge Judy..or Judge Mathis...Then maybe all the other idiots will think first.

[Marc]

We have to look no further than Mr Sullivan and Kelly Coakley, to figure out what is wrong with our society today. It is a shame when greed consumed individuals such as these, waste all that time going to school only to figure out a new way of scamming people. So sad

[TonySan]

I have a question, why would this Regional Coordinator do something so outrageously, phenomenally stupid? E-mail a coupon that can be forwarded, photoshopped, altered, photocopied an infinite number of times, and then distributed to all 4 corners of the continent? Seriously, I don't get it.

Here's an alternative, if you really wanted to surprise and delight friends and family, how about designing and commissioning a finite number of coupons (like the small free iced beverage cards), meet with your district managers, have them pass out a predetermined number of coupons to each store manager, and then have the store manager instruct baristas on handing them out. OH MY GOD!!! WE ALREADY DO THAT!!!